Lewis: Big dreams in a small body

ALBANY — Kids still walk past Dion Lewis’ home three houses down and across Hoffman Avenue from Pop Warner practice, shoulder pads slid over helmets, facemasks serving as handles.

Lewis remembers his games of youth, his dreams of youth, when he was small kid playing a kid’s game, not a small man playing a man’s game.

But he could run the football. Always could.

“I was good at a young age,” the 20-year-old said. “I knew that if I worked hard, the chances of getting to the NFL were higher.”

He was undersized then, undersized at Albany High and then Albany Academy, where as a junior in 2006 he earned the Times Union’s All-Area Small School Offensive Player of the Year award.

“Very shifty in the hole, very underrated power, and you could see the best was yet to come,” staff writer James Allen said of Lewis in high school.

Doubts still lingered. He was undersized at Blair Academy, where he went to get noticed by colleges. He did en route to being named New Jersey Prep Offensive Player of the Year.

“Things I did, I knew I had to do it to get to where I wanted to be,” he said.

Things he did got him to Pitt, where in two years he became the school’s fourth all-time leading rusher.

And now, less than a week before he hopes he hears his name called during the 2011 NFL draft, he is hearing the same things all over again. A shade under 5-foot-7 and 193 pounds, he’s told he’s not big enough, fast enough. So why leave school with two years of eligibility remaining?

“I don’t look at that stuff. I don’t care about what the media says,” he said in his family’s dining room, surrounded by photos and paraphernalia and even a fan-made figurine.

“I’ve been short my whole life, and it worked out for my advantage at times,” he continued. “I’ve been this way my whole life, and I’ve still had success at every level of football. I wouldn’t pay too much attention to that.”

Despite his success in the Big East, Lewis is expected to be selected on Day 3 of the NFL Draft, somewhere between the fourth and seventh rounds. He could go a little earlier, or even not at all. (Doubtful.)

NFL teams have been placing less of a premium on drafting running backs high, especially since several teams use the backfield-by-committee approach. Given that it’s conceivable no running backs could go in the first round, everyone at the position could be pushed down.

“I can’t recall any running back his size in recent memory as effective (at) running inside as Lewis is,” wrote draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr., who has Lewis slotted as his 18th-best running back prospect. That said:

“Due to his size and less than eye-catching stop-watch 40 speed, it is very possible that Lewis could come off the board a little or maybe even a lot later than my final ratings tend to indicate.”

A cbssports.com columnist even held up Lewis as an example of why players who declare early for the draft should be allowed back in school if not selected where they perceived they would go.

“It’s about to monsoon on that poor kid,” Gregg Doyel wrote.

But Lewis said he is confident in his decision. Pitt had issues at quarterback and along the line last season, contributing to his drop-off from a scintillating freshman year. There was a coaching change. Lewis has improved as a pass-blocker, can catch the ball out of the backfield and is as shifty as there is running inside.

“Strong, great vision and a great agility to make people miss, and a tough runner in between tackles,” Lewis said in a self-scouting report.

Lewis grew up a Giants fan, but is too young to remember Joe Morris, the 5-foot-7 running back out of Syracuse who tallied three 1,000-yard seasons in his long career in the Meadowlands. There is a resemblance in their games; Lewis cites Maurice Jones-Drew as a contemporary parallel.

There is a place for Lewis in the NFL, regardless of where he’s drafted. Right fit, right scheme, right coaches, and he could make it.

“I knew it was the right thing to do. I talked to my family and people I’m close with,” he said. “The NFL is my lifelong dream. I wanted to be in the NFL since I was 6 years old, and now is the perfect time to get there.”

Lewis has had interviews and discussions with the New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals. He dined with the Baltimore Ravens. (Ray Rice 2.0?) He doesn’t picture himself in a particular uniform, although he definitely sees playing on Sundays.

Mom Linda Lewis called the draft process “surreal.” After the decision and the Scouting Combine and the interviews and the Pro Day workout, all that is left is the waiting.

“I’m working a lot to keep my mind off it,” said mom, who works for Unity House. “There’s just so much. I’ve kind of stopped reading the blogs.”

As for her son, he is chilling this week. He may not even watch the draft — but he will be waiting by the phone.

“The process has been exciting, but it can also be stressful if you let it get to you,” Lewis said. “I try not to think about it much. Just picture it as another opportunity.”